Index tab



Aue. 6, 1940- l.. A. JOHNSQN er AL 2,210,411

INDEX TAB Fvled June 27, 1939 Patented Aug. 6, 1940 UNITED STATES INDEX `Lurene A. Johnson and William A. DobleJr.,

. San Francisco, Calif.

' "Application June 27, 1939, serialNo.' ,281,384

l. Claim.

application ef glue or other adhesive materials.

with gauging means forcorrectly locating the' YA vfurther object is to provide such an index tab tabs onto their respective elements to be indexed and which will further act to effectively clamp the tabs to their elements preparatory to and during the fastening of theftabs thereto by stapling or other mechanical means. 1

' A further object is to provide an index tab having one front edge extending beyond the other edge to facilitate thel application of the tab to the element to be indexed.

A further object is to form a relatively lon strip of tab material by longitudinally folding back upon itself a ribbon of transparent material and applying gauging means, therealong to f orm a pocket between the fold and gauging means andan open endedpslot between the gauging means and free ends of the; folded strip.

Afurther object yis to mount an in-dex member within the pocket of the strip having lines for guiding the cutting of the strip into individual tabs of desired lengths.

vThese and other objects and advantages Will become apparent as the nature of the invention is more fully understood from the following description and accompanying drawing, wherein is set forth what is now considered to be a preferred embodiment.

It should' be understood, however, that this particular embodiment of the invention is chosen principally for the purposeof illustration, and that Variations therefrom in details of construction or arrangement may accordingly be effected and yet remain within the spirit and scope of the invention as the same is set forth in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 illustrates a fragmental plane view'of the index strip.

Fig. 2 illustrates a tab cut from the strip and applied to a sheet or card to be indexed.

Fig. 3 illustrates a perspective view of the fully mounted tab. f

Fig. 4 illustrates a fragmental plan view of a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 5 illustrates an end view of Fig. 4.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention a ribboncf transparent material Ill is longitudinally folded back upon itself as at II so that the upper side I2 4of the strip will closely overlie the lower side I3. In folding the material it is prefer- '5 able to make the two sides of unequal length as shown in Figs. l, 3, 4 and 5, wherein the underside !3 is made slightly longer than the upper side I2. rIhe purpose of this difference in length ,Y is to provide an extending edge or lip which will l greatly facilitate mounting the tab onto the ele- `ment to belindexed.

After the ribbon has been folded in the manner above described, gauging means I4 may be applied therealong to` forma longitudinal pocket I a5 between the fold and gauging means and a longitudinal open ended slot, between the gauging means and free ends of the strip.

The gauging means I4 may be in the form'of staples and applied by any type of standard @D stapling machine commonly sold by stationery houses or in large production the staples may be .applied to the strip byan automatic machine. It is to beunderstood that in place of the staples I4 yrivetsfI'I as shown inFigures 4 and 5 may be lused instead, or anyother appropriate form of mechanical clamping means.

YIt isl preferable however to use staples formed of flat wire as illustrated most clearly in Fig. 3.

After the gauging means have been applied to the strip, an index member I6 may bev inserted in the longitudinal pocket I5.

'I'he index member is preferably provided with `indicating lines I8 which intercept the spacing between the gauging means to guide the cutting of the strip into individual index tabs.

In practice it has been found convenient to use staples for the gauging means I4 which are approximately a quarter of an inch in length and spacing the staples approximately one quarter of an inch apart and spacing the index lines I8 approximately one half inch apart andr centrally locating the index lines between the staples. In thisway index tabs from one half inch in width to any width in multiples of one half inch may 45 be conveniently cut from the tab strip. The index member I6 may be made of a single strip of material as indicated in Figs 4 and 5 at I 6a or may be folded as shown in Figs, 2 and 3. The advantage of using a folded index strip results in its tendency to spring apart and thus bind and clamp itself within the pocket I5. The index member may be directly used to note the index information thereon or the indexing information may be typewritten upon a sheet of suitable paper and out to t into the tab pocket I5.

In Fig. 2 is shown an index tab 20 cut from the strip along the third index line I8 and. thus according to the proportions above set forth, would be approximately one and one half inches in length, however, if a one half inch tab should be needed, it would be cut along the rst index line I8, if' an inch tabshould be desired it would be cut along the second index line I 8 and soon.

In the proportions above set forth tabs of one half inch will contain one of the gauging staples I 4, tabs of one inch in length will contain two of the gauging staples |4 and a tab of one and one half inches in length as shown in Fig. 2, will contain 3 of the gauging staples I4 and so on.

The staples I4 tightly clamp the two side walls of the tab together and thereby longitudinally dividing the tab into the pocket I5 and the open slot 22 which is formed between the front portion 23 of the side wall I2 and the front portion 24 of the side wall I3. As will be noted inFig. 3, the front portion 24 projects beyond the front portion 23 to provide the lip 26 which is made use of to spread the two ends 23 and 24 apart in order to enable the tab to be readily mounted upon the element to be indexed. In other words the lip portion 26 will be iirst brought into engagement with the element 2| spreading apart the portions 23 and 24 whereupon the element 2| can be slid therein until the front edge 27 of the element 2| registers with the gauging means I4 and in this way correctly positioning the tab on the element and thereby insuring the same alignment for all of the tabs.

Due to the clamping eiect of the gauging staples I4, the ends 23 and 24 will act to clamp the tab in its adjusted position on element 2| and will so hold the tab until it is mechanically attached thereto.

With a tab mounted on element 2|, it may be mechanically fastened thereto by the staples 28 preferably of the same type as the gauging staples I4, however it is to be understood that rivets or other types of mechanical attaching means may be substituted for the staples 28. The staples or other types of mechanical attaching means may be applied with the usual stapling or riveting apparatus generally found in an oiiice or by apparatus especially provided for the purpose.\

The mechanically fastening means enables the tabs to be easily and quickly secured to their respective elements and eliminates the nuisance of employing an adhesive substance for this purpose.

In Fig. 2 the tab 20 is shown fastened to the element 2| by three staples 28 of the same size and type as employed for the gauging means. It is to be understood however, that a greater or lesser number of staples, rivets, etc. may be used for this purpose and also if staples are used they may be of a different size and type from that used for the gauging means.

An important advantage resulting from the use of the mechanical means for fastening the tabs to their elements resides in the ability to easily remove the fastening means thus permitting the tabs to be used over and over again.

The gauging means I4 act to confine the index member within the pocket I5 thereby preventing the slipping of this member out of position. It also tends to clamp the index member so that it will not readily slip from within the pocket I5.

In Figs. 4 and 5, those parts which correspond to the same parts in the other gures of the drawing have been given the same numbers with the letter a aixed thereto.

Having fully described the invention, it is to he understood that it is not to be limited to the details herein set forthbut the invention is of the full scope of the appended claim.

We claim:

An article of manufacture including a strip of transparent material longitudinally folded back upon itself, aplurality of staples arranged to form gauging means securely clamping the two side walls of the strip together at longitudinal intervals along a plane located a predetermined distance from the fold o f said strip and an index member mounted in the pocket formed between the fold and gauging means, and said index member having transverse index lines arranged to indicate the cutting planes of the strip intermediate the positioning of said plurality of staples.

LURENE A. JOHNSON. WILLIAM A. DOBLE, JR. 

